This invention relates to systems and methods for processing digital images. More specifically, it relates to systems and methods for processing Diffusion Tensor images of matter such as neural fibers and the tracking of the path of said matter.
Digital images are very prevalent in many technological applications. For example, there are numerous types of digital images used in medical diagnosis today, including but not limited to Diffusion Tensor images (DTI) created by Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
The processing of digital images has become very complicated. As a result, the processing of digital images can often require significant processing resources. Further, the processing of digital images can also be very time consuming.
For example, it is frequently desired to segment objects in a digital image. During segmentation of objects, it is necessary to seed the to be segmented object in an image by selecting one or more pixels or one or more voxels located inside the object image which will then act as a starting point of a specific trace. Various processing techniques can be used to segment and to further process the object image once proper seeds are selected.
One of the problems is that selecting the seeds can be difficult or time consuming. The seeds are typically selected by a user. Often times, the selected seeds do not lead to a proper segmentation of the object. In these cases, new seeds must be selected and the processing repeated. Thus, already lengthy and resource intensive processing must be repeated.
Accordingly, new and improved systems and methods for seeding and for segmenting an object in a digital image are needed.